'04 Saturn Vue Check Engine light on

It has about 41K miles, has the 2.2L 4 cylinder, is 2WD, and is a 5 spd.

What to do? It’s my understanding that there’s no way to do a self diagnostic on an '04. I took it into AutoZone and they hooked it up to a code reader, but got no reading.

The Saturn dealer wants $80 to hook it up to their code reader, but the girl at AutoZone said that that is likely what I’ll have to do. It sucks, because I can buy a reader for $80. But if it tells me nothing - like the one at the Zone - then that’s worthless.

So, do I have any other options? Anyone else run into a problem like this? I’ve heard the gas cap can cause the check engine light to come on, but I would think that it would’ve shown up right after I filled it up - not a week later. I did check the cap and it’s on - but no telling if it’s leaking or not.

So, anyone got any ideas? Or do I just bend over and take it to the dealership?

I have the SAME car! I am 100% certain you have a bad gas tank cap-the seal allows pressure to leak, tripping the Check Engine light. SATURN had a recall notice on this-your dealer should give you a new capo for free. Had mine replaced in January-no more problem!

See, it’s times like this that you really have to appreciate the Dope! 3 mins to what seems to be the definitive answer.

Is there any way to tell the difference between the old cap and the new one? I’m guessing this is the old one since some of the lettering is worn off.
Thanks for the quick reply!

That can also happen on most recent cars if you don’t put the cap on correctly. By law the gas tank has to seal tight enough to create a small vacuum. If the cap leaks a little bit, the check engine light comes on and you have to go to the dealer to make sure the car isn’t pollutin’.

I would check on the recall, but alternatives would be to check the gas cap to make sure it’s on well and see if the light goes off on it’s own in a couple of days. If not, it may go off if you disconnect the battery for a minute then reconnect it.

Your mileage may vary. I was in a Jaguar dealership when a woman came in with a gas cap/engine light and they told her if it ever happened again, just bring it in, the dealership had to reset the code. But I drive a Jeep and it’s happened 3-4 times and always gone off in 1-2 days.

I finally got the car in to have it looked at. It turns out that there was a defect in the gas cap and that they had issued a recall to fix it that never got fixed.

Ralph124c hit the nail on the head - thanks again. I got a free gas cap out of the deal. And, since they straight up lied to me and said that it was up to date on all the recalls, I also got my spare remote entry fob replaced for free as well.